To be uncomfortable after my manager went on a rant about how much she hates Meghan Markle during a team meeting?

[AlertBird]

So, today, in our team meeting, my manager went on a full-on rant about how much she hates Meghan Markle. It seemed completely out of place and unnecessary, especially considering the meeting was meant to be about work. It got a bit awkward and no one really knew how to react.

I get that people have opinions but I just felt like it was unprofessional to bring something like that up during a work meeting. It felt like a personal issue being projected onto everyone else.

AIBU to feel uncomfortable about this or is it just me being overly sensitive?

Weird thing to do in a staff meeting but it's a strange world right now.

I'd find this uncomfortable. People speak about Beyoncé and other famous POC in a similar way. It's very out of place and feels very much like a microaggression.

Agree, is your manager quite well?
I'd be highly concerned for a colleague who started 'ranting' about a celebrity with absolutely no context in the work environment.

It's so weird how people get so obsessed by her. I never hear it about any other celebrity. If you could give me a list of say, five female celebrities that make people that irate, I'd believe it was not racism but I can only see it as some sort of weird nationalistic rage against a woman who has dared to sully the royal bloodline.

I'd be utterly baffled by someone raising this at work! How weird of your manager.

Don’t be so ridiculous

Again utterly ridiculous

I don’t like MM at all, however it’s inappropriate for a manager to go on about hating any celeb really. It’s not professional.

It wasn’t just casual chit chat that ran over - it happened during the actual meeting. We were discussing a work-related topic, and somehow she segued into talking about MM out of nowhere. It wasn’t just a passing comment either, she went on for a while about how much she dislikes her, how ‘manipulative’ she thinks she is, and how she’s ‘ruined’ Prince Harry.

I would be concerned that she is having some kind of breakdown to be honest. If she segued the work related conversation into a rant about a celebrity.

Insecure people try to win allies and bond with others by focusing on a common, mutual dislike of someone or something. It’s a more malevolent version of moaning about the weather.

I would draw the conclusion that your manager is worried about being liked and exercised poor judgement in ranting unprofessionally like this in order to try and score points for herself, when in fact it had the opposite effect.

As she is your manager, it puts you in a difficult position Op, but awkward silence speaks volumes.

It would depend on your manager's personality.

I have a very outgoing manager and quite often meetings end up sharing personal opinions, he would start with the topic (politics, immigration, sports scandals, etc) and others would share theirs or joke about it. Nobody takes it personal.

Does this happen often? Anyone else chime in the comments?

Of course it is inappropriate, but perhaps the intention was to find someone who thinks the same as her?

Why would be needing emotional support ,and bringing her dislike of MM into a professional workplace ?
Very very strange behaviour

Yes, It was completely inappropriate in a work meeting and very foolish as well, because people could interpret it as racist.

With that update, agree that she sounds like she's having a breakdown with that level of irrationality.

Was going to say same thing..not everything in the world is due to race issues

Yeah, that is weird. It’s one thing making conversation and another derailing the meeting. No matter what the conversation topic, it’s unprofessional and disruptive to speak of something unrelated to the work subject. nothing you can do really, but I can see why it would raise eyebrows

It seems a bit weird. I mean if you were quite a casual bunch, before the meeting properly kicked off you gossip a bit about the telly etc. Meghan come up and then someone mentions in passing they are not keen...that would seem ok, but if it was literally one person just ranting out of context completely then that's out of order.

Does you company sell or make a rival range of jam and pancake batter? Do you work for Netflix?

If neither of those then I see no business reason to discuss her either way?!

How so?
Going full swivel-eyed loon in a work meeting over a woman of colour who you've never met would suggest something pretty fundamental is going on.

I hope you are right, I will attempt to glean evidence to support your claim. It may take some time.

I’ve exhausted my MM posting on the other thread so I’ll not be doing anymore for a while but you make a good point. 😁

She does sometimes go off on tangents but this felt different. It wasn’t a general discussion where everyone was sharing opinions - it was just her going on a full-blown rant. No one really responded and the atmosphere was awkward. It almost felt like she was projecting her personal feelings onto the team rather than inviting a discussion. I don’t think she was necessarily looking for agreement but it definitely didn’t feel like an open conversation either.

It is quite possible to have an opinion a l out someone that has nothing to do with their colour

I might be annoyed, irritated or eye-rolly, but I do think "uncomfortable" is an unusual reaction, yes.

Yes of course. It's not usual to start ranting about someone random and unrelated at a work meeting. If you do that, people are going to wonder what's behind it and why that particular person.